Red Sox: Rick Porcello Tosses Gem to Lift Scuffling Rotation
After getting hammered in his last start, Rick Porcello bounced back in a big way, pitching the Boston Red Sox past the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday night at Fenway Park. Porcello dazzled for seven innings, propelling the hometown squad to an impressive and much-needed 4-1 victory.
Porcello entered the game having allowed 12 hits and eight runs in a loss to the Baltimore Orioles in his last start. He looked like a brand new pitcher, silencing a Toronto lineup which belted out 17 hits on Tuesday. In seven innings of work, Porcello limited the mighty Blue Jay bats to just two hits and one run. He struck out six.
The rest of the Red Sox rotation still has much to prove, but Porcello seems to think those struggles are a thing of the past. One can only hope he’s accurate, considering Boston’s starters entered the game with a combined ERA of 6.03.
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“I think we’re all going out there trying to pitch our game. Obviously we’ve had some struggles, but they’re all behind us,” Porcello said following Wednesday’s game.
Hanley Ramirez backed Porcello’s strong efforts with his Major-League leading 10th homer in the third. Ramirez tattooed an R.A. Dickey offering to left center to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead. It was all the scoring they would need. The blast plated David Ortiz who had reached base on an RBI single.
Mookie Betts added an RBI single in the seventh to make it 4-1 Boston. Brock Holt scored on the knock and Xander Bogaerts was gunned down at the plate trying to sneak in. Early on in the game, Betts turned in the play of the night, robbing a Blue Jay hit on leaping grab out in center. He snow-coned the baseball on the warning track and tumbled into the wall.
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Koji Uehara picked up his fourth save of the season after striking out four Blue Jays in the ninth.
By far the most encouraging takeaway from the win was Porcello’s gem, especially given the ineptness of his counterparts in recent games. Manager John Farrell was pleased with Porcello’s showing.
“He gave us exactly what we needed, seven strong innings,” Farrell said. “As much as we talked about starters setting the tone, Rick did exactly that tonight.”
The Red Sox will be off on Thursday before opening up a weekend set with the New York Yankees.